Users from Armenia and Azerbaijan expressed polarized opinions on the trial of Karabakh officials.

The case against the leaders of Nagorno-Karabakh has sparked heated debate among people of Armenian and Azerbaijani descent on social media, both about the fairness of the trial itself and the origins of the conflict between the two countries.

As the "Caucasian Knot" reported, the judicial investigation of former Nagorno-Karabakh officials accused of war crimes has been completed in Baku.

Fifteen former Karabakh officials are on trial in Azerbaijan, including former presidents Arayik Harutyunyan, Bako Sahakyan and Arkady Ghukasyan, as well as former parliament speaker David Ishkhanyan and former State Minister of Nagorno-Karabakh Ruben Vardanyan, the latter's case is being heard separately. "Caucasian Knot" has prepared a report "Vardanyan and 15 Karabakh leaders: the main thing about the courts in Baku".

Karabakh: A Chronicle of the 2020 War and Its Consequences

A Facebook post by the "Caucasian Knot"* prompted a dialogue among users identifying as being from Armenia and Azerbaijan. By 2:45 p.m., the post had garnered 706 comments. In particular, readers who identified themselves as refugees expressed their views on the origins of the conflict between the two countries.

"As a native of Armenia, I can say with confidence: if there had been no initiators—those in the dock who led the masses, directing Armenians against Azerbaijanis—then there would have been no conflict between the two peoples!" noted Nuri Bakhtiyarov.

"If... they hadn't mocked and killed Armenians, if their right to language and culture had been respected, there would have been no war." "I'm telling you this as a native of Baku," Artem Badasyan responded.

"A native of the city of Gafan (Western Azerbaijan), expelled in the cold November of 1988, I can confidently say: there would have been no war then; if the mass deportations of Azerbaijanis from Armenia had not begun, the tragedy could have been avoided," retorted Asif Bayramov.

"I'm from Baku myself! If there hadn't been the brutal attacks on us in Sumgait and Baku, none of this would have happened!" Toma Avanesyan shared her opinion.

The Sumgait pogrom was an ethnic riot in the city of Sumgait in the Azerbaijan SSR that lasted from the evening of February 26 to 29, 1988. According to the USSR Prosecutor General's Office, 26 Armenians and six Azerbaijanis were killed in the unrest, over a hundred people were injured, over two hundred apartments were looted, and dozens of cars were burned or destroyed. Numerous workshops, stores, kiosks, and other public buildings were also destroyed. According to various later sources, based on eyewitness accounts and analysis of death certificates, the death toll was in the hundreds, according to the Caucasian Knot article "Sumgait Pogroms", published in the "Reference" section.

The location of the trial sparked a heated debate

The very fact that the trial is taking place in the Baku Military Court further divided users from Azerbaijan and Armenia.

"There were no officials in Nagorno-Karabakh, they... illegally occupied the internationally recognized territory of Azerbaijan," noted a reader under the nickname Rafael Nazarov.

"Let (this) be an example for all separatists in the world who proclaim a proxy state," he believes Aziz Kadashevich.

"Everything is legal, everything is in accordance with international law. "Everything has been proven and confirmed, we just need to wait for severe punishment," said Novruz Mamedov confidently.

"This is the triumph of justice and law!" echoed Altay Turan.

"Not a single witness will come to Baku, especially not international judges," countered Inga Arzumanian.

"Baku should be blamed for war crimes," wrote Anahit Ghukasyan.

"There will be a trial for the Azerbaijani criminals too," agreed Boris Panasyan.

"If there's anything they're guilty of, it's that they couldn't protect themselves and the Armenian people!" "And they should be tried for this in Yerevan, and not in... Baku!" - believes Angelika Ter-Semyonova.

It should be recalled that during the 44-day war, both Armenian and Azerbaijani soldiers beheaded prisoners and mocked the corpses of their opponents, experts stated after studying and verifying the authenticity of video recordings from Nagorno-Karabakh. International organizations should monitor the progress of the investigation into war crimes committed by all sides in the Karabakh conflict, stated Azerbaijani human rights activists interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot".

On September 19-20, 2023, Azerbaijan carried out large-scale military operations in Karabakh. On September 20, 2023, an agreement was reached to cease hostilities and disarm the Karabakh Defense Army, and on January 1, 2024, the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic ceased to exist in accordance with the decree of its last president Samvel Shahramanyan. By October 7, 2023, 100,632 internally displaced persons from Nagorno-Karabakh arrived in Armenia. The "Caucasian Knot" has prepared a report "The Beginning and End of the Unrecognized Republic of Artsakh".